Support for railway detector-bars



No. 624,626. Patented May 9, I899. H. F. CLARK.

SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY DETECTOR BARS.

(Application filed Oct. 11, 1898.)

(No Model.)

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TIENRY F. CLARK, OF POUGH KEEPSIE, NEWV YORK.

SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY DETECTOR-BARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,626, dated May 9, 1899.

Application filed October 11, 1898. Serial No. 693,221. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY FROST CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Supports for Railway Detector- Bars, of which the following is a specification.

Detector-bars have been employed in connection with railway-switches, semaphores,

torpedo-signals, &c. I-Ieretofore these detector-bars have been connected to the rails by clips spanning the base or foot of the rail. These clips are liable to displacement longitudinally of the rail, and they are alsoliable to be covered with dirt and in winter with snow and ice, and their longitudinal movement often causes the detector-bar to become more or less inoperative not only from change of position, but from interference with the' cross-ties; and my invention is designed to prevent these difficulties.

In carrying out my invention I employ brackets to which arms are pivoted, the arms in turn being pivoted to the detector-bar, and the brackets are provided with tap-bolts, and the rail at the under side of the head and the surface of the foot is provided with recesses to receive the ends of the tap-bolts in securely connecting the bracket in place.

I prefer to employ with each bracket three tap-bolts, a center bolt acting upward against the under side of the head of the rail, and a bolt at each side of the center bolt acting downward against the surface of the flange of the rail. With these tap-bolts clam ping-nuts may be employed. The tap-bolts pass through the bracket at right angles to the plane of the bracket, and when the parts are secured to the rail the bolts occupy a position slightly inclined to the vertical web, and the length of the bolts is such that my improvement can be connected to a rail of any height without change or alteration of any part, and the connection can be adjusted so that the surface of the detector-bar when elevated shall occupy the desired relation to the upper surface of the rail. The bracket is so made that the surface becomes a rest or support for the detector-bar in its normal position. Any number of the brackets may be employed in connection with each detector-bar, according to .the length of the bar, it being usual to place the brackets and the arms therefrom to the bar about every four or five feet apart.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent cross-sections and partial elevations of my improvement, Fig. 1 as applied to a rail of full height and Fig. 2 as applied to a low rail; and Fig. is a side elevation representing the rail and my improvement applied thereto.

A A represent the rails. The detector-bar a is of usual construction and dimensions and is provided at intervals with studs a. As all of the operative devices employed are alike, the following description relating to one device will serve as an explanation for all.

The bracket 0 is provided with a stud c at the central portion, to which stud the arm I) is pivoted, the upper part of the arm I) in turn being pivoted to the stud a of the detectorbar, and I prefer to employ and have shown the washers 4 5 and the keys 6 7 for securing the arm 19 upon the pivot-studs. Three interiorly-threaded holes are provided through the bracket 0, usually in the same vertical plane. The tap-bolt e fits the central opening, and the tap-bolts d d fit the openings at either side, so that the three tap-bolts are in line, the central one, 6, acting upward and the tap-bolts d d acting downward, the said bolts being rotated by means of their respective poly onal heads. The tap-bolt e is preferably provided with a clamping-nut e, and where the device is applied to a high rail, as shown in Fig. 1, I prefer to employ a lock-nut 3 on each of the tap-bolts d d. The ends of the tapbolts are preferably of reduced area, with a central opening forming an annular end, and the under side of the head of the rail and the surface of the flange of the rail are preferablyprovided with recesses, leaving central project-ions. These recesses are preferably made simultaneously by a suitable jig-tool and gage, there being a pair of recesses in the flange of the rail and one recess in the under side of the head of the rail to receive the ends of the respective screws or bolts.

While I have shown the annular recesses in the rail and the annular ends to the bolts as the most approved form for the parts, I do not limit myself in this particular.

All the brackets employed with each detector-bar are to be so adjusted in relation to the rail that the upper edge of the detectorbar a shall bear the desired relation to the tread or upper face of the rail in both the elevated and depressed or normal positions, and in the depressed position the lower edge of the detector-bar a, usually rests upon the surface 8 of each bracket. WVith a high rail, Fig. 1, the tap-bolts d (1 will be longer than with a short rail, Fig. 2.

The detector-bar a is provided in the ordinary manner with a rod f, connected with a stud f upon the said bar.

My improvement provides a most efficient and secure connection to the rail for the detector-bar, and the same can be adjusted and tightened at pleasure.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with the detector-bar a and pivoted arm b, of a bracket to which the said arm is also pivoted, and tap-bolts passing in opposite directions through the bracket and adapted to bear against the rail at the under side of the head and surface of the foot, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the detector-bar a and pivoted arm I), of a bracket to which the said arm is also pivoted, and three tap-bolts passing in opposite directions through the bracket, the central one upward and the other two downward, and the central bolt bearing against the rail at the under sideof the head,

and the other bolts bearing against the surface of the flange, substantially as set forth.

3. .The rail having annular recesses in the under side of the head and upper surface of the flange in combination with a bracket, three tap-bolts having annular ends passing in the same vertical plane through the flange, tap-bolts having ends entering said recesses, a bracket supported rigidly by said bolts and through which they pass, and sig* naling devices supported by and maintained in the desired relation to the rail by the bracket, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 6th day of October, A. D. 1898.

H. F. CLARK.

Witnesses:

' GEO. T. PINOKNEY, HAROLD SERRELL. 

